Washington seeks to shift EU focus from 'secret jails' The US sought yesterday to push ahead with its attempt to strengthen ties with Europe, in spite of the continuing furore over allegations that Washington has maintained secret prisons in the continent. (...) The Council of Europe, a pan-European grouping, yesterday called for the co-operation of all its 46 member governments, in its own investigation into the affair. The European Commission has declared that hosting secret detention facilities would be incompatible with the obligations of EU membership. One senior US official has privately remarked that the issue of the treatment of terror suspects is the one he most hates addressing in public. The controversy also complicates the US's attempted rapprochement with the EU. In spite of visits to Europe by President George W. Bush, three-quarters of Europeans polled in a survey by the German Marshall Fund of the US said relations with the US had stayed the same or become worse over the previous 12 months. Mr Fried said the two sides of the Atlantic had to move beyond "analysing the US-European partnership as if it were a sick child", and focus instead on a common agenda such as Middle East reform and democratisation beyond Europe.
The US sought yesterday to push ahead with its attempt to strengthen ties with Europe, in spite of the continuing furore over allegations that Washington has maintained secret prisons in the continent.
(...)
The Council of Europe, a pan-European grouping, yesterday called for the co-operation of all its 46 member governments, in its own investigation into the affair. The European Commission has declared that hosting secret detention facilities would be incompatible with the obligations of EU membership. One senior US official has privately remarked that the issue of the treatment of terror suspects is the one he most hates addressing in public. The controversy also complicates the US's attempted rapprochement with the EU.
In spite of visits to Europe by President George W. Bush, three-quarters of Europeans polled in a survey by the German Marshall Fund of the US said relations with the US had stayed the same or become worse over the previous 12 months.
Mr Fried said the two sides of the Atlantic had to move beyond "analysing the US-European partnership as if it were a sick child", and focus instead on a common agenda such as Middle East reform and democratisation beyond Europe.
the issue of the treatment of terror suspects is the one he most hates addressing in public.
Poor man... Hint: actually treat terror suspects in accordance with the (US) law and you'll be fine...
analysing the US-European partnership as if it were a sick child
Another hint: it would not be analysed as such if it weren't. It's been bitten by a rapid dog. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
how fitting this criticism comes from Europe, which has a sorry history of appeasement.
Why doesn't this "Kate" volunteer her basement as a detention facility? tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
Oh dear, I'm getting carried away again.
;)
Me thinks Kate needs to read some history...from, you know, books...and turn Fox News off. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
The problem is not Fox News. The problem is that Americans construct their worldview around the City on the Hill, the Last Best Hope of Mankind, and the one thing you cannot challenge is people's worldview---you won't change it and they'll hate you for the challenge. This is where hubris comes from, and it will be their downfall, and they need to fall down and crawl back up like the Japanese and the Germans did. I just hope they won't take the whole lot of us with them. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
In the end, Germany turned into one of the great success stories of the 20th Century. Europe went into a spectacular boom after WWII -- like nothing Western Civilization had (or has) ever seen, and much of that came from Germany.
What bothers me about many conservatives in America is the attitude of "We saved your ass in WWII" when none of us were even alive when the war was fought. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
It's a very common mindset, to think that toughness will make you invulnerable.
Isn't that what Bush's 2004 campaign was all about, and the reason people voted for him? "9/11 changed everything, and I'm waging the War on Terror™, which means I'm tough!"
Also, I hate to slam some of my fellow Americans, but the "I'm so badass" attitude isn't just a stereotype (when you're talking about Bush voters, in particular).
It's also a mindset that makes terrorism a bigger problem than it is.
Right - I mean, the Iraq war was all about being "tough" and taking down Saddam. And look what happened: terrorism has INCREASED, in part because of the Iraq war.
Only three states recognized the Taliban regime on 911 :: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE Dhubai et al.
"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
Jihadi Groups, Nuclear Pakistan and the New Great Game pdf file - 50 pages Published August 2001 (Carlyle: Strategic Studies Institute, 2001)
The Dynamics of the Great Game in Muslim Central Asia (Washington, D.C: National Defense University Press, January 1996)
Crawford Texas August 25, 2001
But, alas ... George doesn't read books nor PDB briefs when on holiday in Texas.
